mass market paperback, 497 pages
English language
Published Aug. 31, 1991 by Spectra.
Consider Phlebas is perhaps one of the lesser-known, but nevertheless the first, of the revelationary late Iain M. Banks' science fiction books. Consider Phlebas introduces us to the complex world of the mind-controlling, ubiquitous utopia of the Culture, which contrasts to their mortal sentient enemies. Iain Banks creates an imaginative and encapsulating premise to keep the reader hooked for more, with hints of science fiction and alien humour to liven a deadly race against an omnipotent foe.
This was a reread for me and having read all the other books I feel like I got a lot more out of it this time around.
The early chapters - under Kraiklyn - were fun, action-packed adventure. It gradually slowed.
I thought Banks did a great job mixing the different characters thoughts together to keep the pace going at the end, but still could have been cut down a bit. Didn't really have any great morale message or anything like that
Content warning Allusions to the events and arc of the novel, no spoilers about the ending
I re-read this for the first time in 25-30 years and was surprised. It was mostly what I recalled but the book was much more meandering than I expected. It takes its time.
The Culture in Banks’ novels is like water to a goldfish: you can' perceive it if you're in it. Assuming an etic perspective provides an interesting introduction. Our protagonist, the shape-changer Horza, opposes its malleable, A.I.-governed, self-contradictory utopia. He’s thrown his lot in with the Idirans – theistic, immortal, three-legged giant dinosaurs who are at war with The Culture. His character’s oppositional perspective illuminates The Culture’s values in ways that a more straightforward account would not.
Banks makes a number of interesting decisions that increase the sense of scale and complexity of The Culture (I dislike the phrase world-building, but it's appropriate here). Digressions like high(est) stakes card games, monastery raids, and island cannibals take up most of the book. The central animating events of the book are almost an afterthought.
It's more descriptive in its prose than most books I like to read now. Anything that includes lengthy descriptions of action gives me Dan Brown-induced contact hives. However this was written before every hack started treating their novels as long-form screenplays and one needs to keep that in mind. The themes about loss and the nihilism of war remain relevant. Banks doesn't dumb things down for his readers.
But structurally it doesn’t quite work. This galactic conflict–spanning mission is somehow subordinate to a series of stories that seem more like loosely connected role playing game sessions. At the end we’re not much more clear about what motivates Horza or the war itself.
Consider Phlebas remains imaginative, overreaching, flawed, and propulsive.
Started reading this very cautiously because everyone says that this is not a representative book of the Culture setting and also not too good, but I did find it enjoyable. A bit sluggish at times, and sometimes it felt like a series of short stories instead of a cohesive novel, but I did like it. I am yet to start reading the player of games, and maybe I change my opinion about this one, but I was fairly entertained throughout the book.
The only thing Horza can't change into is a worthwhile person.
First read this in middle-school and didn't think too much of it then. I wish there was more to get into in Consider Phlebas. There does seem to be some discussion to be had regarding The Culture concepts across novels, but in terms of what's in this novel I'm without big questions or insight.
I was expecting to want to continue reading the series, but now I'm ambivalent about that.
I’ve always heard the culture described as the “good guys”, so the perspective of an outsider was intriguing. I also appreciated the cynicism that the cultures enemies approached it with. I’d given up on science fiction because I’d grown to associate it with YA pulp, but Banks drew me back in.
This one introduced me to the Culture and got me hooked. It's a crazy and bloody adventure in a weird space opera setting, featuring a quirky crew that get's picked off one by one.
Lot's of new ideas and story elements (for me), so I enjoyed it. What stood out the most was how the author painted this, supposedly, "wonderful utopia" of the Culture as the Bad Guys and the protagonist's struggles against them.
3 stars for worldbuilding in the first half 1 star for generic and cliche characters (especially female characters)
also (south park voice) "this is what tech accelerationists actually believe"
I guess I expected more… There’s one chapter (the eaters) that you can just skip completly imo. There’s been several times when I just wanted to stop reading (the eater-chapter and gendered stereotypes that continue to exist unchanged in the far future…), but I kept going for some reason and have not been rewarded.
This book had been on my list for a while and I was excited to read it.
The ‘universe’ building was great and it definitely inspires me to read more of the series. The plot of this book wasn’t quite what I expected and at times seemed to drift from the main thread to fill in the timeline. That said it comes together in the end.
Interesting enough for me to read the next book but, in general, it was a bit of a slog
Several people have sung the praises of Banks' novels featuring The Culture (a post-scarcity, pan-galactic society based where individual liberty is paramount) so I expected to be blown away by this, the first novel in the series. Instead, I found it merely very good, containing interesting characters and story that kept me turning pages in spite of being a little episodic. One welcome technique is that, for a novel that introduces The Culture, the main character hates them, allowing the reader to see many points of view about them and drawing their own conclusions.
There are the beginnings of brilliance here, but I can already tell (having only read [b:Look to Windward|12016|Look to Windward (Culture, #7)|Iain M. Banks|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1288930978s/12016.jpg|124371] before this) that it is not the best of the Culture novels.
Vastly imaginative in scale, skillfully described; a seemingly straightforward space opera that nonetheless holds some unexpected twists and an unusual complexity in its characters and their relationships (to each other and to the world in which they live). But balance that with some serious nightmare fuel (there are several scenes in the book that are distressingly and gratuitously graphic, and I would not want to read again), the overall bleakness of the message, and some downright depressing events that happen at the end...
I'd say this is a good book, but it's not light reading, and not something I especially want to read again -- especially given that I know I can revisit the …
There are the beginnings of brilliance here, but I can already tell (having only read [b:Look to Windward|12016|Look to Windward (Culture, #7)|Iain M. Banks|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1288930978s/12016.jpg|124371] before this) that it is not the best of the Culture novels.
Vastly imaginative in scale, skillfully described; a seemingly straightforward space opera that nonetheless holds some unexpected twists and an unusual complexity in its characters and their relationships (to each other and to the world in which they live). But balance that with some serious nightmare fuel (there are several scenes in the book that are distressingly and gratuitously graphic, and I would not want to read again), the overall bleakness of the message, and some downright depressing events that happen at the end...
I'd say this is a good book, but it's not light reading, and not something I especially want to read again -- especially given that I know I can revisit the fantastic world in which the Culture exists without revisiting this particular story.
This was my first reading of Consider Phlebas, and it felt odd to ponder that it's the first of the Culture books. In particular: if this had been my first exposure to Banks, I'm not sure I would have had a second. This is a very, very weird sensation! It's not that my life would feel hollow—for how would I know—but the Me who has read the Culture books shudders to think of a Me who hasn't.
It's a decent book, and offers glimpses of the writer Banks is to be, but it's just, well, off somehow. Too-pat characters. Too many improbable coincidences. Too shallow, too preachy. So weird, in fact, that I've waited almost a month to write this review. I had to wait to read another Banks ([b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games (Culture, #2)|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157]) to restore my balance.
If you're a Banks fan you'll …
This was my first reading of Consider Phlebas, and it felt odd to ponder that it's the first of the Culture books. In particular: if this had been my first exposure to Banks, I'm not sure I would have had a second. This is a very, very weird sensation! It's not that my life would feel hollow—for how would I know—but the Me who has read the Culture books shudders to think of a Me who hasn't.
It's a decent book, and offers glimpses of the writer Banks is to be, but it's just, well, off somehow. Too-pat characters. Too many improbable coincidences. Too shallow, too preachy. So weird, in fact, that I've waited almost a month to write this review. I had to wait to read another Banks ([b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games (Culture, #2)|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166984450s/18630.jpg|1494157]) to restore my balance.
If you're a Banks fan you'll need to read it; but if you are you're not asking me for advice. To the rest of you: you don't need to read this one. (And if you haven't read Banks, try starting with [b:Against A Dark Background|422452|Against A Dark Background|Iain M. Banks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174599757s/422452.jpg|809748]. That still shines out as my favorite. I'm on a Banks kick, though, and am eager to find out if it survives rereading).
Every single one of my SF-reading friends is completely berserk for Iain Banks. I am myself a mostly-lapsed SF reader, so when this book -- the first in the culture series -- came up for cheap on the kindle I snatched it right up.
This is just a terrible book. Bad writing. Slow, heavy handed, predictable plotting. Completely irrelevant tangents for hundreds of pages in the plot, and flat flat flat characters that don't really have any motivations or even, seemingly, emotions.
When I went back to my SF reading friends and said "what the hell?" every single one of them said "oh no don't read that one! Its terrible! Read Player of Games or Use of Weapons!"
So there you go. If you're interested in Banks or in the Culture books go elsewhere first.
One star for some fairly good action scene writing, especially in the beginning, and one …
Every single one of my SF-reading friends is completely berserk for Iain Banks. I am myself a mostly-lapsed SF reader, so when this book -- the first in the culture series -- came up for cheap on the kindle I snatched it right up.
This is just a terrible book. Bad writing. Slow, heavy handed, predictable plotting. Completely irrelevant tangents for hundreds of pages in the plot, and flat flat flat characters that don't really have any motivations or even, seemingly, emotions.
When I went back to my SF reading friends and said "what the hell?" every single one of them said "oh no don't read that one! Its terrible! Read Player of Games or Use of Weapons!"
So there you go. If you're interested in Banks or in the Culture books go elsewhere first.
One star for some fairly good action scene writing, especially in the beginning, and one star for bits of humor scattered throughout. But mostly: ugh.
